Spread Chords


Examples from the Repertoire (4)

Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, BWV 903 We find a clear example of two-directional rolling in Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue. In the Fantasia, Bach writes three sections in block chords with the direction arpeggio (bars 27-30, 34-42 and 45-49), leaving it to the performer to decide exactly what to do. We notice that it is possible to hold on manually to the notes of all the chords, which is what the harpsichordist would need to do in order to sustain them (since there was no pedal or hand stop to sustain the notes on a harpsichord)....

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